Resolve
by Yunilicious
Summary: It doesn't matter how many times life knocks you down, all you have to do is stand up again and again and grab your future with your own hands! The story is set sometime before the events of the anime. [One-shot]


Hello everyone! This is a story about Ruler who is one of my favorite Magical Girls, I hope you enjoy! :)

English is not my native language so I apologize for any mistakes ^^

Magical Girl Raising Project belongs to Asari Endou.

* * *

 _I hate you…I hate you…I hate you…._

The Magical Girl had received a kick in the face and had been knocked on the ground. Another Magical Girl was standing not too far from her.

"You dare ask me to let you go? Who the hell do you think you are? I am the one deciding what I'm gonna do with you. Your worthless life belongs to me!"

That woman always shouted at her, punched her in the face, she always made her feel like trash. Ruler hated her, despised her. But most of all, she hated the expression the blonde had on her face whenever she did all those horrible things to her; that disgusting smirk. The smile that always reminded her that she was weak. Many times she wished she could just smack her mentor in the face. But she knew she couldn't do it.

 _No, she didn't have the power._

As a Magical Girl, Sanae Mukou was quite weak. Her magic allowed her to command anyone using a magical item in the form of a scepter. Even though amazing in theory, this magic wasn't practical. There were several requirements for it to work properly and if one of them wasn't met her magic was immediately cancelled.

She couldn't bring Calamity Mary down and thus Ruler was forced to spent her days being abused by her and praying for the time when her training would be complete and she would eventually be free. Until that time came though she was like a bird locked in a cage, unable to escape from her cruel fate.

Ruler raised her gaze and glared at the despicable person in front of her.

 _One day…_

"I've beaten you up and you still have the nerve to look at me with those eyes, huh? You piece of shit!" Calamity Mary raised her foot and ruthlessly stomped on Ruler's head.

 _I'll fly away…_

Her mentor was the kind of person who got easily annoyed. No, that would be an understatement. The slightest of things would send her off the edge and the one thing that woman hated the most was people defying her. She couldn't stand it; she wanted to have absolute authority over them and she used her power as a Magical Girl to abuse them and subjugate them. She delighted in destroying others both mentally and physically. That's the kind of sick person she was and Ruler had suffered plenty in the hands of that sociopathic tyrant. But Ruler couldn't take any more of this. She asked her mentor to stop her training and let her go, but Calamity Mary had no such intention.

"Stay on the ground and don't you dare move from there. If I see you standing I'm gonna beat the living daylights outta you, got it?" The outlaw threatened whilst pointing a gun at her, before she finally moved away from her victim.

Ruler was facing the ground. She didn't even bother to stand up. _What's the point?_ Calamity Mary would never let her go. She would never be free. Tears leaked out from her violet eyes and ran down her bruised cheeks. She clenched her teeth. Her wounds were aching, she felt utterly miserable but Ruler wasn't crying out of pain. Her tears were tears of rage. She cursed her fate and how unfairly life was treating her, both as a Magical Girl and as a human being.

She had always been the best in her school, an excellent student praised by her teachers and a reliable employee in the business company she was working at. Yet, her boss was a misogynist pig who never bothered to acknowledge her hard work. He never gave her a raise either. No matter how hard she had been trying her entire life, in the end it was all in vain. Sanae was never rewarded for her hard work and as a Magical Girl her life was even worse. So much that she could no longer stand on her own feet. She didn't have the courage to move on…

She couldn't take any more of this.

"What have I done to deserve this…?" Ruler groaned bitterly and punched the ground with her fists; her tears flowing like rivers from her eyes. "God if you truly exist, if you can hear me now, then please tell me…what I have done to deserve such terrible punishment?" She knew that she shouldn't expect an answer, but deep inside her Ruler begged for an answer.

She begged for someone who would hear her cries, someone who would reach their hand out to her and help her stand on her own feet once again…

"You've done nothing, but that alone is a sin in itself."

An unfamiliar voice reached her. For a second, Ruler thought that maybe Calamity Mary had come back for her, but quickly she realized that this wasn't the case. Her mentor was loud and cocky, yet this person's tone was soft, non-threatening. Her violet eyes looked up at the woman who had just spoken but she didn't recognize her.

"Who are you…?"

The mysterious woman had knelt down and was sitting on her heels. She had brought her palm on her chin and she was smiling at the fallen Ruler.

"My name is of no importance…for the time being that is."

Ruler didn't know what to make from her answer. The woman standing before her was a Magical Girl just like her but she had never seen her around before. Ruler tried to avoid her gaze. She was a proud individual and she didn't want others to look at her while she was in such a pathetic, beaten up state.

"G-go away…" she said, embarrassment written all over her face.

The other Magical Girl ignored her request. She simply stood in place, staring at her persistently and Ruler felt as if she could read her like an open book. The mysterious woman was the kind of person that made Ruler feel _very_ uncomfortable and it didn't take long for the Princess Magical Girl to lose her cool, as she wasn't exactly a patient person.

"Didn't you listen to what I told you? Leave me alone! _Go aw_ _—_ "

"Why are you letting her walk all over you?" Her sudden question silenced Ruler. Was she talking about her mentor? Could this Magical Girl have possibly witnessed Calamity Mary abusing her?

 _No, no, no, no._

Ruler didn't reply she didn't want to admit anything. She lowered her head in shame and her eyes were once again gazing at the ground. Seeing her reaction, the elegant woman bent slightly forward.

"You don't have to hide your wounds from me. I know very well what she's _doing_ to you behind closed doors…"

"I…have no idea what you are talking about…" her otherwise assertive voice had now been reduced to a timid undertone. That woman's words made her feel deeply humiliated. She felt cold sweat running down her forehead. Her hand was making nervous movements, as she was trying to wipe the blood from her nose with her sleeve.

The woman posed another question this time having a sinister smile on her face, "If she's treating you like this, then why don't you just _kill_ her?"

 _Kill her…_ Ruler hated her mentor with a passion and would gladly sell her soul to the devil to force her go through the same humiliation she had been forced to experience in her hands; this is what she had wished for, this would be her revenge. It's not that she hadn't thought of killing her before; but there was something about that woman's tone that made her sound as if killing was the only choice. As if nothing else mattered in life.

Ruler gazed in her eyes. They had a disturbing, or rather psychotic look on them. Calamity Mary sure was frightening when she pointed her gun at you, but despite that she wasn't intimidating at all, she was just obnoxious and tyrannical. Unlike her, the pair of eyes in front of her, made Ruler realize that she no longer felt nervous neither embarrassed nor even annoyed, instead she felt an emotion completely unknown to her till that moment…

… _Sheer_ _terror_.

Her body was shaking. She couldn't utter a single word. The other Magical Girl let out a sigh of disappointment. "Your resolve is weak."

 _Weak?_ That word hit a nerve. This is how Calamity Mary always called her. How dare she call her weak…that stranger knew nothing about her or how much she had suffered. Ruler tried to stand herself up and prove that she was stronger than they thought, but her body was still in great pain and her muscles weren't obeying her.

 _Why won't this useless body move…? I had enough of being humiliated in front of others…I had enough_ _…_ _dammit…just move!_

She struggled a few times and was about to give up when all of a sudden, she felt two hands holding her by her arms and helping her stand up. Ruler gazed surprised at the woman who simply gave her a gentle smile in response. She was just a stranger and yet she had helped her. Her gesture was enough to make Ruler blush. The stranger then proceeded to give her something that she had picked up from the ground earlier.

"You are a leader, am I right? Then act like one. Go forth and create a living hell that the Magical Girls will never forget." She said as she handed over Ruler's scepter to her.

"I know that! Y-You don't have to tell me… I am the Magical Girl Ruler, and I will **not** allow _anyone_ stand in my way. I will use my power to crash them mercilessly, just you watch!" Ruler declared as she pointed her scepter at the Magical Girl before her. This time her voice was strong and clear. Her determination brought a huge grin to the other woman's face.

Satisfied with her reply, the mysterious woman turned around to leave and it seemed to Ruler that she wasn't all that scary after all. The two seemed to understand each other and they possibly shared the same noble ideals too. Ruler could tell with a glance that she was powerful and she had a feeling that if they were to team up the two of them would be an unstoppable Magical Girl duo, eliminating all others in their way; unfortunately the woman didn't seem like the type of person who would form alliances. For all Ruler knew she seemed like a lone wolf.

Still, the Princess Magical Girl was grateful to have met her, because thanks to her she had finally found the resolve to stand on her own feet. She wasn't afraid to grasp her future with her own hands and she wouldn't let anyone stand in her way. As she watched her walking away, Ruler remembered that she had forgotten to ask her something important.

"Wait! What is your name…?"

The Magical Girl ceased walking. A soft breeze blew carrying away rose petals. Her lithe frame was embraced by large roses. She smiled at Ruler's question.

"I am…the _Musician of the Forest_ , Cranberry."

* * *

"That was impressive Master. You did much better than I thought you would, Pon! Looks like you are not that heartless after all, Pon." the black and white mascot was taunting Cranberry through her Administrator Phone.

"I just did as you instructed me. Nothing more, nothing less…" the elf Magical Girl replied nonchalantly, playing her violin.

She had acted at Fav's bidding and although she was a killer with no concern for others lives, somehow, Cranberry felt at ease after having helped Ruler. It was probably because Ruler's life reminded her of her own, the two were like birds trapped inside a cage; doomed to lead a sorrowful life. But unlike her, Ruler could still escape and Cranberry's words had made her realize that. Cranberry thought that the Princess Magical Girl would have made a good ally… _indeed_ she wouldn't mind trading Fav for her.

Who knows, maybe if they had met under different circumstances they could have become friends too. Cranberry looked up at the bright blue sky and smiled to herself.

 _I am sure of it…_


End file.
